Arizona indie rock group, The Breaking Pattern, are bringing a fresh new sound to the emo scene on their debut album There Are Roadmaps In Our Veins. Anthemic vocals and reverb-soaked guitars make for a euphoric and equally lovelorn summery sound.

The band cite emo and pop-punk acts such as Real Friends, The Wonder Years, Man Overboard and The Hotelier as influences. Fellow Arizona indie rockers Lydia have offered the band much support, their guitarist Justin Camacho even co-writing songs with the band in the past.

The album lyrically tackles the hurdles of a failing relationship. The band’s frontman explains: ‘The album is somewhat of a break-up album, chronicling the various stages of a doomed relationship from the moments leading up to the split until the resolution and recovery. I say “somewhat” because it is not a concept album. The songs do not tell one specific story, but are a compilation of personal experience and the stories I’ve witnessed from friends who had their own hearts disintegrated into red dust.’

Producer Cory Spotts engineers the record, having worked with other esteemed Arizona acts including The Maine, The Summer Set, BlessTheFall and Job for a Cowboy.

Within the first few months of their formation, the band opened for celebrated acts such as Emarosa, This Century, Weatherbox and The Rocket Summer. They have since sold out multiple shows.

Vocalist Derek Hackman previously fronted a band called Ezer. Having long had a passion for music, he began writing songs aged 11. Moving house frequently as a child, Derek dealt with long periods of social isolation that fuelled his songwriting. The first time he ever sang live was at his high school graduation – in front of 6000 people. He was so nervous he vomited in the bathroom only minutes prior to going up on stage.

Derek is also a published poet and has a degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology.

Making up the band’s other members include drummer Brandon (who also handles a lot of the photography), guitarist Nick (who happens to also be an award-winning coffee roaster) and bassist Jacob (who is Columbian and fluent in Spanish).

A truly exciting band who have been likened to some of the shining lights of UK indie, Vida are a British four piece who are going places. Drawing comparisons to a wide ranging indie catalogue, including the likes of Oasis, Arctic Monkeys, Kasabian, The Black Keys, Miles Kane and more, their growing reputation has seen them garnering recognition from some of the country’s top tastemakers.

Their new single is a double A-side release showing two of the different sides of the group. First, ‘Electric Lady’ tells the story of repeated overnight stays with the same girl after meeting on several nights out, and the awkwardness that follows the next morning. Meanwhile, ‘Fade Away’ speaks of a completely different kind of awkward – finding yourself in the same room as an ex…

Already supported by Amazing Radio for their previous single ‘Colour’, Vida have also been building their reputation on the live circuit. Having been handpicked to play XFM’s This Feeling shows several times, as well as four gigs at prestigious independent venue King Tuts in Glasgow, they also headlined a charity festival in Stirling to which went very successfully.

Their appearance at the fundraising events mirrors their approach to music, offering fans something free in exchange for their ongoing support. Vida are known for handing out music and merchandise at live shows, free to music fans who go home with EPs, CDs, badges and more. This generous approach is spreading the word and helping to build a legion of fans, who will continue to build Vida into a force to be reckoned with.

A thoughtful singer songwriter based in North London, River Child is the creator of original indie-folk tunes with a soulful edge.

An ex-busker who got so much good feedback from his pavement performances he decided to take to the studio, with second single ‘Lone City Lights’ coming next.

Brilliant in its simplicity, the track marries a vocal reminiscent of Dylan with an upbeat shuffle rhythm which belies the darker lyrics, as well as mixing acoustic and jangling electric guitar to great effect. You can hear the song here:

Looking to build on his burgeoning reputation with this single, River Child is working hard on the London scene to keep turning heads – and with top quality, accessible music like this it shouldn’t be long until more and more eyes are on him.

Produced by Ian Wallman, this is music easy on the ear but written from the heart – a soulful reminder of how affecting a simple chord/melody combination can be.

Exciting and energetic contemporary folk band, ‘Apple Of My Eye’ announce release of new album ‘Seven Tides’, due out 1st December. Beautifully arranged epic songs in a unique twist on classic folk themes.

Now living in London, the majority of the band hail from the historic maritime city of Bristol and their songs draw inspiration from both cities and from the sea, a theme that runs throughout their second album. Their engaging storytelling style and four part harmonies explore tales of love, loss, adventure and ruin.

The album was recorded at Cowshed Studios and engineered by the hugely respected folk and jazz engineer Joe Leach. They decided to record the entire thing on 2 inch, 24 track analogue recording tape to give a warmer and richer sound than digital techniques.

Having spent the summer performing at some of the most exciting festivals in the UK, including, Tall Ships Festival Greenwich, Secret Garden Party, Wilderness and headlining Exile festival in Sheffield, the band are flourishing into an exciting folk force, not to be missed.

The band describe their music as “brand new old songs” and collectively generate all their own material drawing on personal experiences and carefully arranging the music on the guitar, bouzouki, violin, double bass, mandolin and harmonica.

Band member Chris Rusbridge lives on a narrow boat on the waterways of London, where often a rehearsal will turn in to a performance as passers by become a listening crowd. No London public house is safe from the spontaneous band. They are well known for bursting into song and entertaining the drinkers of London pubs.

Kit Massey (Violin) and Phil Cornwell (Bass) are both full time professional musicians. Cornwell is the musical director of West End musical “The Scotsboro Boys’’ and Massey was formally a violinist with the Santiago Philamonia in Chile and has worked as a session musician with artists such as Emile Sande, Dizzie Rascal, Muse and Jamie Cullum. Arran Glass (Vocals and Guitar) and Alex Scott (Mandolin) are both professional Actor-Musicians and Puppeteers who perform and compose the music for a variety of theatre and television. Chris (Bouzouki), Dan (Harmonica) and Ellie Rusbridge (Vocals) are all siblings and come from a rich folk music heritage as their parents met in a folk club and still perform in their own folk band Thornbridge.

The Bristol bunch have already been making waves across the folk scene and have received raving reviews from some of the top publications in the genre.

“Sublime vocals and intricate instrumental work […] a magical journey filled with rhythm and rhyme.” – Folkblues and Beyond

“These are more than songs sung to tunes. The texture is seamless. Throughout, there’s an unvarying, symbiotic fusion as vocals and instruments feed off each other to create songs with space and depth.” – Tim Carroll – Folkwords

LP to be released on the same day as lead single, ‘That Ain’t Love’ – October 1st

A South Wales based boy band with a taste for energetically infectious melodies, Eric Unseen are a three piece with a growing reputation in the UK indie scene.

Having supported and gigged with a host of high profile names including Bastille, We are Scientists, The Alarm, The Stiff Little Fingers, Cast, Ocean Colour Scene, Skindred, Paramore, Goldie Lookin Chain, The Subways, and The Automatic, the band are now ramping up for further exposure with new album ‘Brought Up the Right Way’.

With a sound that comes across like a contemporary version of The Smiths with an indie twist, Eric Unseen are unlike any other band on the circuit at the moment, and aim to drive their point home with this album’s lead single – ‘That Ain’t Love’

The band are no strangers to the stage and have really turned heads with the quality of their live shows. In addition to the impressive list of gigs above, they also reached the final of national competition ‘Live and Unsigned’, fighting through 10,000 acts to play in the showcase event at London’s O2 arena in front of 3 thousand people.

Their success though has not gone to their heads, and they happily joke about the gig they played the next day – a small pub with seven people in it who were there to watch the football.

And it all comes from an outlook of simplicity and the feel of a band simply having fun, with lyrics inspired by a relatable life in ‘The Valleys’ of Wales painting a very different picture from the trashy MTV attempt at reality television.

After a chance shuffling of desks in an Old Street office, Harry and Luca formed The Fireflies. They release their glittering debut EP in late July.

Having cast off suit, boot and tie for a career in the music industry, Harry (vocals, guitar) and Luca (guitar) are busy building their fast growing fan-base. They have already flown high with top quality recordings, a gig at the 2014 Trinity Cambridge May Ball and busking to huge crowds on London’s South Bank.

Voice, woven guitars and poetic lyrics are the trademark of The Fireflies’ debut six track album. Check out their first release, ‘Silver Leaflets’ :

Writing and performing is in The Fireflies’ DNA. Nephew of legendary actor Daniel Day-Lewis, Harry turned heads of record execs from Universal Music after an impromptu cover of ‘Superstition’ with The Noisettes at his uncle’s film premiere after party. He then opened for The Sugababes, and performed solo at the Montreux Jazz Festival with Oxford’s Big Band. Harry’s former harmonies group were crowned world runners up at ICCA (collegiate A Cappella), to a packed Lincoln Centre in New York, with his rendition of Coldplay’s ‘Fix You’. Following that, the group sold out three runs of The Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Already flying high, The Fireflies’ path is set to burn bright with the release of their new EP at the end of the month.

Future headline gigs:
The Troubadour on 24 July
The Bedford on 14 August
Clare Island Seafood Festival in Ireland on 22 August
Barfly Camden on 10 October

The track is very notably rooted in its Irish roots with a Banjo, Flute, Accordion and Guitar forming the rhythm in this country melody.

Derek Ryan is an Irish artist on the road to success with his up and coming new album. This single ‘Hold onto your hat’ see Derek accompanied by the Irish country icon, Sharon Shannon. They seem to have a brilliant chemistry that comes through brilliantly in their on-screen performance linked above.

Derek and Sharron will be Hitting the rocky road together on 31st May, performing at an open air event in the athletic grounds in Armagh, and on 17th July at the Olympia Theater, Dublin. You can purchase tickets from Ticketmaster.ie or Armaghgaa.net.